Reports paint mixed picture on jobs

Companies added more workers than projected in December, indicating the U.S. job market finished 2012 with momentum, according to a private report based on payrolls.

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By Shobhana Chandra

southcoasttoday.com

By Shobhana Chandra

Posted Jan. 4, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 4, 2013 at 8:13 AM

By Shobhana Chandra

Posted Jan. 4, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 4, 2013 at 8:13 AM

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WASHINGTON — Companies added more workers than projected in December, indicating the U.S. job market finished 2012 with momentum, according to a private report based on payrolls.

The 215,000 increase in employment was the largest since February and followed a revised 148,000 gain the prior month that was larger than initially reported, figures from the Roseland, New Jersey-based ADP Research Institute showed today. The median forecast of 36 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a December advance of 140,000.

Sustained growth in hiring would help generate the wage gains needed to spur consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy. A Labor Department report tomorrow may show private payrolls rose by 150,000 last month, and unemployment held at an almost four-year low, according to the Bloomberg survey median.

"The job market held firm in December despite the intensifying fiscal cliff negotiations in Washington," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics Inc., said in a statement. Moody's produces the figures with ADP. "Businesses even became somewhat more aggressive in their hiring at year end."

Estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from gains of 70,000 to 210,000. The prior month's employment was previously reported as an increase of 118,000. ADP had estimated that superstorm Sandy reduced payrolls in November by about 86,000.

Another report Thursday showed more Americans than forecast filed claims for unemployment insurance last week as the closing of some state agencies during the holidays prompted the government to estimate some figures.

October marked a break from the way ADP had calculated employment figures dating back to 2001. The report is now derived using a larger sample and new methodology, and released jointly with Moody's of West Chester, Pa.

The Labor Department may report that overall hiring, which includes government jobs, climbed 150,000 last month after rising 146,000 in November, according to the Bloomberg survey median.